The Listing Review Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has agreed to withhold enforcement of its decision to delist the shares of Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd (IPI), according to information from the company.
In an overnight filing, IPI said it has decided to proceed with judicial review proceedings against the delisting decision and is currently seeking legal advice on viable grounds regarding its leave application under the judicial review proceedings.
It also confirmed that the Listing Committee has issued a letter stating that the Stock Exchange will “voluntarily refrain” from implementing the delisting decision if the company proceeds with the judicial review proceedings on or before 6 March 2024.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange previously informed IPI – the parent company of troubled Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC – that its shares would be delisted as of 22 February 2024.
The development comes with IPI having last month belatedly published its financial results for the first six months of 2022 in an effort to stave off delisting. Rule 13.24 of the Listing Rules state an issuer “shall carry out, directly or indirectly, a business with a sufficient level of operations and assets of sufficient value to support its operations to warrant the continued listing of the issuer’s securities.”
This rule has proved problematic given that IPI’s sole asset – its Saipan casino Imperial Palace • Saipan – has been closed since March 2020 and its casino license suspended since April 2021.
Saipan’s casino regulator is also readying for a license revocation hearing, which could spell the end of IPI’s controversial reign as the sole casino licensee on the island, although that hearing continues to be repeatedly postponed.
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